Okay, so I am hoping to breed my thoroughbred mare one day(hopefully soon) I was wanting to breed her to a draft but she has never has a foal before, she's quite fined bonded and only 15.1hh if that. So I know that breeding her to a shire or something would end badly. So apart from a gypsy cob are there any more small drafts you can think of? If you can and their in Australia would you please be able to post a link to their stud?

I'm not a vet, BUT.. It's my understanding that considerations of size in breeding two horses is unimportant. Your fine boned TB will do just fine. The foal will adapt to the space available in the mare and his growth once outside of her will reflect his parentage. In other words...No worries! I'd check with a vet, but everything I've heard about breeding horses of different sizes says it's not a problem. The foal adapts to the space available to him inside the mare, and then proceeds to grow to his genetically determined size once he's outside.

A shire is the largest draft there is and you might not want to go with a shire but there are other, smaller drafts that would add substance to your foal. Halflingers would be the smallest that I'm aware of, but in the US many people cross to Belgians for added size and bone.
TBs crossed with Irish Draft horses make a popular cross also.

Be very careful breeding a lighter boned horse to a big draft - not for the mare's sake, but the foal's - unless you do it really well, a lot of them can turn out pretty funky looking - especially hairy crosses. For the most part, I hate Friesian crosses, period. Generally speaking when you breed two completely different body types, you're really taking a gamble on what the foal will inherit.
Why not look at a Warmblood or other more complimentary breed? Do you have pics of your mare? What makes you want to breed her?Posted via Mobile Device

I was going to have her by AI. I want to breed a foal from her for quite a few reasons; 1- because my horse has been conformation tested by quite a few people and they approve of her. 2- She has competed well when I have taken her out to shows and one day events. I already know about the conformation faults she has and I would look for a stallion who doesn't have them, obviously. Right now it is just a thought. If I decide that I'm not going to breed her then I am planing on rescuing a young horse.

I would look at her size and speak to your vet or the vet who is going to care for her post pregnancy. You can get into trouble with a big baby and a small pelvis. I have seen this with cows particularly immature cows. The trouble is not so much getting the foal to grow in there but getting the foal out. You only have about 45 minutes from the start of labor to the finish of labor to get a live foal. As a result, if you do a C-section on your mare you are doing it to prevent the baby from becoming necrotic and causing the mare to die. If its a big baby that gets even more complex. I would talk to your vet and see what type they think is appropriate. They might have some better ideas about what challenges your mare might have in conceiving and if she really is to slight to be bred.

The issue with breeding a fine boned/light framed mare to a bigger (as in build not height) stud,is not the issue of whether the foal will have room in the uterus,but whether it will have room to come out. Having just gone through a horrible experience were a foal did just fine in the womb,but was way too big to be birthed,I won't go into the gruesome details of how the vets had to get it out,I am extremely cautious now about the size difference between mare and stud!

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